| Soundy | 11-21-2008 03:36 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Noir
(Post 6134178)
I wasn't contesting Gaborik's ability to contribute. I was contesting the plausibility of a player switching clubs based on friendship alone.
Just like Naslund - Forsberg, Gretzky - Messier, people expected that both players would be a Canuck because of history with Naslund and Messier alone. In the end, everyone disappoints themselves as nothing ever materializes due to other factors taking more precedence over friendship alone.
(I think with Gretzky, management was the deal breaker wasn't it? I think I heard rumours he wasn't happy with Canuck management, I can't confirm it though).
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Ch28
(Post 6134223)
I'd rather take Sundin for 2 years @ 10 million then getting a guy like Gaborik for $7-8 mill.
He is way too injuring prone to be throwing that kind of money at him.
| Well, it all depends on the player(s) involved, of course... I'm not suggesting Gaborik would come here out of friendship for Demitra (in fact, I don't recall ever hearing anything about them being buddy-buddy, not like you always heard about Nazzy and Bert, or Bure and Odjick), but the fact that they played well together before, coupled with Vancouver looking like a good system to play in (at least according to Demitra) could be enticements for him.
In any case, there's pretty much zero chance that Minny would TRADE Gaborik here, given the rivalry the two teams have - any team would be stupid to send a potential major scoring threat to a team in the same CONFERENCE, let alone a DIVISION rival. That would be like the Rangers trading Naslund to the Islanders, or Ottawa trading Alfredsson to Montreal. So there's really no worry about taking on his current salary.
If he doesn't re-sign wherever he lands, and goes for free agency come summer, we have a chance to get him for substantially less, as most other interested teams would also be concerned about his injuries and durability. There's always the chance, of course, that someone will offer him more than he's really worth, but there's also the chance that if this is an attractive destination, he'd sign here for a discount, much like Hossa did with Detroit this year.
AND, assuming the Sundin/Montreal/Gaborik/Vancouver scenario WERE actually to play out, we'd still only be on the hook for his salary pro-rated to the remainder of the season... as well as freeing up a couple million dollars (also pro-rated) to snag someone else for a playoff push, IF Sundin didn't pan out (if he did though, well, who cares about the Habs?) | 